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So long, Mystic River Yarns

2005- Lily Chin, me, Norah Gaughan!

9/15/2019- EDITED: MYSTIC RIVER YARNS HAS RE-OPENED!!!!!!!

My favorite yarn store has closed.  I made a final trip there on Sunday.  My other favorite, Sakonnet Purls, closed in 2011. Mystic River Yarns and Sakonnet Purls were both set in beautiful locations, kind of quirky, and full of beautiful and beautifully displayed yarn and all things a knitter could desire.  

MRY had the advantage of being closer to home, in the bustling seafaring village of Mystic, in a lovely historic brick factory building.  I have fond memories of events there, having attended a few Designer Days, with classes by Norah Gaughan, Lily Chin, and Sally Melville; meeting up on a 'blind date' with CT knit blogger Debby, who was acquainted with owner Hansina; buying pink yarn and knitting pussyhats on a Sunday afternoon with fellow Resistors; going with newbie knitter Deb and Marilyn this past fall on one of our retiree excursions so she could pick out her first yarn and pattern; and just plain old browsing and shopping.  Wishing Sina well with her future plans. ***

(The picture at top was taken at a Designer Day in 2005, which you can read about here.  A Red Letter Day in my life!  And I still wear the sweater.)

Marilyn and I went to one of the Families Belong Together rallies that were held across the nation on June 30, this one in New London.  A good turn out in a blessedly shady park.  That is not us above.  This is us, courtesy of the League of Women Voters:

I have to confess I've had a long knitting hiatus, maybe two weeks.  I was crocheting instead pretty steadily on the baby blanket, but since this heat kicked in many days ago haven't touched that either. I have been print reading up a storm, though. Monday when I donated blood I made sure to hydrate hydrate hydrate.  There was a nice surprise- a mug for my 100th donation, and a tee-shirt, which is perfect apparel for July 4th.

At least the day lilies thrive in hot weather.

***After I wrote this D and I attempted to relax and cool off watching The Incredibles at the Mystic Theater but it was sold out.  We ran into Sina and a friend in the lobby; they got into their movie.

 

 

Look, Ma, I'm crocheting!

I can say I've accomplished my crafting resolution now that I'm successfully in the midst of crocheting a project on my own, with help from YouTube.  This is the Abstract Cats blanket- can you see them?! - using Cascade Superwash I got at Webs with a Mother's Day gift card from John.  In dark and light blue, white, and purple, it will be suitable for either our future grand-niece or -nephew on the Chambers side.

The second doily we started in class came out so cute with its little ruffly edge.  At our July class we'll be starting a market bag.

The E Pluribus Unum cowl is done.  It was fast and fun to knit.  I feel like Sam the Eagle wearing it.

I've started managing a couple of Facebook pages for two local groups I've become involved with, the town Democrats and the town historical society.  That's what happens when you have a nagging mother type of personality.  The political stuff can be draining and demoralizing but we're hoping to drum up enthusiasm to turn the town blue.  The historical society had been in a bit of a lull, but I'm excited about the plans we've been making recently, with book signings and lectures and displays.  

I'm taking an OLLI summer class on charcoal and pastel drawing.  Oh lord, why did I not inherit that artistic gene that so many of my relatives inherited?

 

Knitting at Plimoth Plantation

 

The Greater Boston Knitting Guild held its final meeting of the year and annual luncheon at Plimoth Plantation.  Believe it or not I've never been to Plimoth Plantation, and except for sitting in the conference room where we met for several hours, I still haven't.  The guest speaker was Tanis Gray, and she gave an interesting overview of the history of knitting.

I had signed up to take her class after the lunch, to make the E Pluribus Unum Cowl from her newest book, Capitol Knits.  This pattern is so much fun!  I'm using leftover cotton Covington that I used to make the Drape Neck Top.

Designs in Tanis's trunk show

The GBKG and Plimoth Plantation have a long relationship, as several members of the guild knit articles of clothing for the re-enactors to wear.  If I didn't live two hours away I'd like to do that.

I finished a homework project for the crochet class at the Mermaid's Purl, a double thickness pot holder in single crochet.  I've been using leftover Tahki Cotton Classic for three crochet patterns we're making.  Imperfect it may be, but I am inordinately pleased with my cushy little pot holder:

 Now I'm halfway through our third project, a round double thickness pot holder.  I am amazed at my beautiful little circle.  I did artfully place the crochet hook to hide the jaggedy line where each row starts.

 

 

 

 

 

Bookshelf

Well, that was a longer than usual blog hiatus.  I've been wanting to share about books I've read, but kept putting it off as it writing it seems such a chore.  Retirement is exhausting.  So just a few remarks on a couple of books that have made an impression and are well worth reading.

Complicity, written by a team of Hartford Courant  journalists in 2005, is an eye-opening account of how a large number of Northern business owners, bankers, and average citizens had no interest in ending slavery because of course, money.  The whole New England textile industry and much of the shipping industry was built upon slavery. Here is a YouTube program from 2014 featuring the authors in a forum.

The Common Good by Robert Reich.  America has lost the notion of "the common good"- working for the benefit of all in the society and not just looking out for self.  I wanted to star or underline most everything in the book.

I read more nonfiction than fiction, but everything I read seems to circle around to slavery and racism.  As one of the authors of Complicity states in the video, "I think there is a long way to go.  I don't think that -  the real role that slavery held in America, I think it was the central event in American history - I don't think that's been acknowledged yet."  She nails it-  slavery was "the central event of American history".  I've been mulling for some time that so much of what is wrong with our country stems from the fact that the Founders did not have the guts to prohibit slavery right from the beginning at the Constitutional Convention. 

 

On a lighter note, here's Shell Seeker, which I finished in February and photographed in March at Kate's house.  It came out great, very comfortable and with a handy kangaroo pocket.  Don't you love the removable wallpaper the kids put up in their guest room?

I'm keeping my resolution to learn crochet by taking a couple of classes at The Mermaid's Purl.  The first class we worked on a dish towel sampler using chain stitch, foundation row, single, half double, and double crochet stitches, and the "Russian crab stitch" which is an easier version of reverse single crochet.  You're allowed to laugh at it in all its misshapen, off-tension glory.  This time though I really did get the hang of the different stitches.  

Moms Demand Action RI has seen some victories and progress with the passage of the Red Flag bill.  We enjoyed our second annual Mothers Day Brunch. 

And I'm happy that Connecticut has started several new groups, including one in Southeastern CT that some of my friends have joined.  Marilyn and I tabled in Willimantic when two Mother's Dream quilts were on display on Fiber Arts Day.

 In April D and I went to Maine for the Sheep Fest in Norway where my brother and SIL live.  I bought one souvenir skein of incredibly soft yarn dyed by a friend of my SIL.

The kids gave D two Adirondack chairs two Father's Days ago, and it's about time they were painted.  One down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stitches 2018

It was the Stitches that almost wasn't...I signed up online for one course, plus the fashion show and dinner, and hotel reservation, as soon as I got the email notice last fall.  Upon arrival, I checked into my room, then went to the Stitches registration desk to pick up my badge and packet before heading to my class.  Ruh-roh, it wasn't there and there was no record of my signing up.  I was passed along to the head registrar, Jessica, and we figured that when I signed up I must have neglected to hit that final 'Submit' button.  Luckily the class I wanted still had openings, so I paid and soon was taking part in Laura Bryant's Fabulous Fibonacci class.

Fabulous Laura Bryant with some of her fabulous Fibonacci knits

Halfway through the class and midway into a swatch, a light bulb lit up- if my name hadn't been listed for the class, then I also wouldn't be registered for the fashion show and dinner later that evening!  I put down my swatch  and dashed back to the registration desk.  Jessica was able to get me into the fashion show, but the dinner was iffy since the caterer would only have a limited number of meals, for those who had registered before the deadline.  She had no way at the moment to know if anyone had cancelled so I could take their place, and the fact that I'm vegetarian would make it even more difficult as they make fewer of those meals.  Oh well, at least I'd see the fashion show, and I'd just dine in a restaurant accompanied by a knitting magazine.

Back in the class, swatching away and feeling silly, I mentioned to the two women sitting next to me (none of us knew each other and had just introduced ourselves and chatted a bit at the beginning of the class) the boneheaded thing I'd done.  One of them, Deb, said "You know my friend Jane Doe was not in class earlier, and I don't think she will be here at all because her brother is in the hospital."  I replied rhetorically "Is she vegetarian?" and Deb replied "Yes!"  She texted her friend to make sure she really wasn't coming, and found that she had cancelled and been refunded. So when the class was over I dashed back to Jessica to tell her, and she checked registrations that had not been picked up, and Jane Doe's was one of them.  She told me that since she herself didn't have confirmation of Jane's cancellation, so after the fashion show I would have to wait outside the dining room until everyone else had gone in, and if indeed Jane was not there, I could pay and get in.  And that's what happened.

I enjoyed a fabulous dinner, and afterward during the many raffles, whose name should be called but Jane Doe!  I was sitting near the front of the room and Jessica saw me, grabbed the raffle certificate, and gave it to me.  She explained that since my name hadn't been in the bowl since I hadn't registered early, but I had paid for dinner, the prize was legitimately mine.  It was a $48 (!) jar of 'face pudding' (!!), a fancy moisturizer.  I ended up giving it to K for her birthday and 'rubbed in' the fact that it cost $48.

I didn't go overboard at the market but got several things I needed: a leather thimble for use with those sharp pointy needles, larger size pompom makers, and a square circular needle to see what all the fuss is about.  If I like it I'll get more.

 Shawl pins and closures!  I really loved the stuff in Knitting on the Fringes booth, all very reasonably priced.

This pin and the sweater guard were from different booths:

The only yarn I got was for this crocheted Pineapple Peacock shawl which was in the fashion show the previous night.  I was really surprised to find that it used inexpensive acrylic yarn!

After shopping the market Sherill and I headed to the March for Our Lives, see previous post.

So the lesson of this post is...whatever you want it to be.

 

March for Our Lives, Hartford

My friend Sherill and I attended Stitches in Hartford Friday and Saturday.  When I signed up last fall, of course I had no idea that there would be this significant March held on the 24th.  If I'd been at home I would have gone to Providence and tabled with Moms Demand Action, but Hartford had its own March planned at the state capital, a short walk from the hotel.  Even better, we learned there was a free shuttle bus from the hotel to the capital, which definitely decided for Sherill that she'd go.  

Neither of us had classes that day, we were just going to shop the market then head for the March, then home.  I wore my red Moms shirt in the hotel and market that morning and got so many positive comments and well wishes.

(I am not at all familiar with Hartford, and had taken an early morning walk to to scope out the route to the capital before learning about the shuttle bus.  What a nice city, easily walkable, I want to come back and stay a couple of days to check out the science museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum, Mark Twain's house...)

When we got to Bushnell Park there was already a crowd, and people kept streaming in.  I read that an estimated 11,000 people took part. The signs are always a treat to read.

Unlike the marches in Providence, where we really just congregate and rally, here we actually marched from the bottom of the hill up to the state house.  It was awesome to look ahead and behind and see the huge line of people moving forward.  

Sherill had to leave, and I had intended to leave earlier, but ended up staying.  What an inspiring and hopeful group of speakers, mostly young people as well as CT legislators.  The event was organized by Tyler Suarez, a college student and nephew of Dawn Hochsprung, the principal who was killed at Sandy Hook.  He sang a song about his aunt written by him and his grandfather, Dawn's father, and the tears flowed.  Dawn's daughter Erica Lafferty spoke as well, in a powerful tribute to her mother.  Student speakers along with staunch gun sense legislators including U. S. Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, and Rep. Elizabeth Esty all had the crowd cheering and chanting.  And there were shout outs to Moms Demand Action included!  It was wonderful to see so many parents there with their children of all ages, and grandparents, and teachers, united to demand our government take action against the proliferation of guns and gun violence in America.

A couple of observations on the differences between rallying in Hartford vs. Providence:  As I mentioned we marched, or at least walked up the hill, in Hartford.  The population of CT is three and a half times that of RI, and the sheer size of the crowd reflected that.  

And sorry, CT friends, but the RI state house's simple, elegant, classical style outshines your capital's ummm,  overwrought architecture.  I purposely haven't looked up anything about the CT state house yet so I wouldn't be influenced when I wrote this post, but whoever designed it must have adhered to the motto 'Let no surface remain unembellished'. 

Believe it or not, I did not actually see any of the speakers in Hartford.  Even as the crowd thinned and I moved my way near the front, I could not tell where the speakers were on the flat plaza in front of the building.  The RI state house has the advantage of the beautiful large flight of stairs used as a stage for these events so you can see even if you're at the back of a crowd.

I was happy to witness this moment in history.  The tide is turning!

Next post I'll share about Stitches.

 

March on

The Raging Grannies

After the signing of the executive order for the Red Flag bill in the last post, a hearing was held at the RI State House.  I kept checking on its progress online while waiting for the utility company to come repair the phone line that had been knocked out in the previous storm.  Reports were that hundreds of yellow-shirted pro-gun/NRA supporters had descended on the State House, outnumbering red-shirted Moms Demand Action members and gun-sense supporters hundreds of times over.  Lines to get in and pass through the security check were around the block.  Friends posted reports of intimidation and verbal abuse from the Yellow Shirts and some some audio- and video-recorded the harassment.  Disgusting.  The upside of the huge anti-gun sense turnout:  It's a sign that the NRA is scared by the backlash it is finally and deservedly experiencing following the Parkland shootings.

I arrived after 6 PM and the crowds had thinned, and I experienced no negative interactions.  The hearings went on into the wee hours ( I was long gone before they ended) and the bill should be coming up for a vote before long.

I'm one of the RI Moms members on its Social Media Team, who rotate duty posting pertinent articles to our chapter's public page.  Following the hearings, there was a deluge of troll activity and comments on our page of a negative and often downright vile nature.  These are the kind of people I feel totally comfortable around knowing they are armed, NOT.  Fortunately we are able to hide their comments and ban them.  Yeah.

Moms with Sen. Algiere, Rep. Azzinaro, and Rep. Fogarty

After the unpleasantness, it was a pleasure to get together with the RI Moms Leadership team the following Saturday for some training, sharing on self-care, and then lunch at the beautiful Coast Guard House.  And that was followed the next day by our first Moms Demand Action South County Politics and Brews, held at Amigos in Westerly. 

Amigos owner Wendy had invited the local Huddle members to join us, so we ended up with 40 people in attendance!  I was nervous for weeks ahead because I'd only gotten two responses from the 15 local senators and reps we'd invited, and they were both regrets, so I was very happy that 4 legislators showed up to engage with their constituents on the topic of gun violence prevention.  There was also entertainment and food for thought provided by social justice singers, The Raging Grannies.

 I am on a roll finishing up knitting WIPs.  First the Shellseeker, now the Open Front Cardigan.  I bought the yarn, Casade Venezia Worsted, in 2010 at Stitches.  It was intended for the Diamond Cable Tunic  but duh, when I went to knit the tunic I found it called for  Venezia Bulky.  (Which I did later find at Webs, deeply discounted.)  So I searched my magazines for a pattern that used the Venezia Worsted and chose the cardi.  Yikes, I started it in October 2015.  It's an easy knit but was boring, which is why I worked on it in fits and starts.  It looked like it was going to turn out too small, but I am really happy with the fit.

Another small FO- the Knit Night Hat, a cute little slouchy made with Berroco Boboli from Kathy W's destash.

 

Speaking of Berroco yarns, we had a Berroco trunk show at this month's guild meeting.  We each got a 'yarn tasting'- small samples of new yarns to swatch- and were able to view and try on sample garments.

 

Tipping Point

You are all aware of the horror of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentines Day, and with the deluge of two weeks of related news may feel like shutting it all out.  But following the horror there has also been a deluge of hope that America is waking up to the need for gun sense, thanks largely to the words and actions of the Parkland students.  It's been five years since the massacre at Sandy Hook, after which Congress passed not one bill to decrease gun violence.  Those poor elementary aged survivors did not have the ability to speak and advocate for themselves as these older children and young adults are able to, and I believe that has made the difference we're now seeing.  

The NRA, which since 1977 has morphed into an extremist right-wing fear-mongering group, bent on jacking up gun sales, is feeling the heat.  Companies are disaffiliating from the NRA, and some like Dick's Sporting Goods are instituting their own policy changes on gun sales.  Politicians are starting to listen to the uproar from their constituents and are proposing new gun laws, some of which are laudable (raising age limits for purchase, banning the sale of assault weapons, universal background checks) and some of which are foolish and shortsighted (arming teachers).

In Rhode Island, Governor Gina Raimondo signed an executive Red Flag order, which will remove guns from those reported to be a probable danger to themselves and/or others.  A bill like this would have prevented many shootings regardless of number of victims.  The RI bill will still need to go through the House and Senate but it's anticipated to be an easy pass. ( Btw, Gov. Raimondo, Moms, and RI supporters were on the front page of the Providence Journal, and in the New York Times!)

In the week following the shooting, Moms Demand Action gained 75,000 new members, and I'm sure that number is even higher in the week since.  Here in RI we had multiple meetings around the state for new members to learn how to become involved, and a couple of us RI Moms even helped out at an inaugural meeting for southeastern Connecticut, where 20 people showed up, eager to help!  I'm very happy that some of my CT co-workers are in that group!

On a lighter note, and back to knitting, I finished Shellseeker and am super happy with everything about it. Will get modeled pictures without a cat sooner or later.

 I am so close to finishing the Venezia Open Front Cardi, only the sleeves to finish up and then the seaming.  The sleeves are much farther along than shown.

 

 This is the world's greatest eyeliner, L'Oreal HIP Color Rich Cream Crayon eyeliner.  It stays on all day long but washes off easily.  It was discontinued years and years ago.  When I found out it had been discontinued, I bought up what I could on Ebay and elsewhere, until I was down to this: 

 I wear either the blue or green almost every day, and the browns I would often use on my lids when I had visible lids, but don't bother with that any more and will probably end up tossing them.  Last week I searched again online, and found several browns available, but only 2 greens, and NO blue!  The 2 greens were on Ebay with an asking price of $45!  The seller also had a 'Make an Offer' button, which I did for considerably less.  The seller accepted, so now I possess  probably the last 2 green L'Oreal HIP Color Rich Cream Crayons (gotta say the whole mouthful) on earth.  So what if they're maybe 20 years old.  I may have let my hair go, but allow me my eyeliner vanity.  By the time these run out I'll be too old and wrinkly to care any more.

 

 

 

 

 

Alaska hat

I saw this on Wendy Knits blog and had to make it, because of its beauty and also its name.  I made it for J in Alaska, and left the pompom off so he'll be more likely to wear it.  The brown yarn is a handpaint with subtle variations.  The sky blue and white is a speckled yarn that I bought without a project in mind.  I don't think speckled yarns look that great in larger projects, but it was absolutely perfect for this pattern.

Pattern: Alaska 

Designer: Camille Descoteaux

Yarns: Baah! LaJolla in 'Blueberry Cobbler'; Old Maiden Aunt Merino in 'Beat It, Creep!'

I had to drop out of the library's cookbook club because it falls on the same evening as the town Democratic Committee, which I've joined.  I'll be taking a food handler certification class with some others on the committee because a certified peerson is necessary when holding fundraisers that involve cooking and selling food, like at the upcoming St. Patrick's fundraiser.  Never saw myself going down that road.

Knitting goals 2018

Naushon Scarf #3

In the never-ending quest to organize my life, including my knitting life, I've made a few knitting goals for this year.

I have quite a few WIPs that either need to be finished or frogged.  I've lost the love for some of them, like Wingspan 2, which is a candidate for the frog pond.  I did finish the third Naushon "Sister" scarf for El.  I've gotten back to Shellseeker. 

Now that the pocket is completed, I'm on to the sleeves, and it should be done quickly.

I'm glad we once again have a washing machine with a separate spin cycle.  I've been going through all my most frequently worn sweaters and washing and blocking them.  When we remodeled the bathroom last spring and got rid of the tub, I thought I'd have to use the kitchen sink to wash them in, but found the new bathroom sink is deep and roomy enough for all but the bulkiest sweaters.  I swish them in cool water with a couple of drops of Dawn, let them soak a while, rinse, press out the water, then put them through the spin cycle.  If I do that in the morning and set them out on towels, they are dry by the end of the day, and look so nice and refreshed.

I'm clean!

Made a pussyhat for a friend with the skein of Bernat Chunky left over from my niece's Azel.  If I ever need to make more pussyhats, this is the yarn I'll use- super fast project.

Ravelry has made it easier to organize with the recently added Project Challenge.  I also joined the Vogue Knitting discussion group's 2018 Knit Along.  So my challenge combines the two: to finish 10 items from my queue, two of which will be part of the VK KAL.  There are two parts of the KAL and you can do either or both.  'Knit #18 in 2018' has you knit pattern # 18 from any issue. '2018 Vintage Vogue' has you knit either one of the Now and Then patterns or any pattern from an issue year ending in 8 on or before 2008.  I've chosen both my patterns and will tell about them in another post.

My goal of crocheting something besides a wonky granny square is included in my Project Challenge.